India's G20 Presidency ensured gender issue not reduced to sidelines: Irani

Union Minister Smriti Irani said on Tuesday that the New Delhi G20 summit ensured that the gender issue was discussed in the mainstream and highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to ensure that women's issues must be addressed through concrete policy actions.

"India's G20 Presidency ensured that the gender issue was not reduced to the sidelines. Gender, even before India's presidency was always compelled to depend on civil society action. PM Modi brought it to the centre stage and implored economies across the world to ensure issues of women are addressed through concrete policy actions and the multiple layers of governance has reflected that resolve," Union Minister Irani said.

While representing the Confederation of Indian Industry at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Minister noted India's growth in the technological sector and mentioned the launch of the COWIN app during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said, "India is well positioned, be it the agenda of women's health or education, or servicing the AI and technology needs of the world, as well as sharing some of its best practices. There are many digital platforms that India has offered for engagement globally - for example, the digital platform that was created for the delivery of vaccines during the pandemic, the CoWIN application, or the largest nutrition programme in the world that India runs on a digital platform, and we are happy to help our partners, whether in G20 or the BRICS."

Moreover, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri also highlighted India's ongoing efforts to ensure a green energy transition, net-zero targets and a journey towards energy sufficiency.

"The world now reckons the emergence & tremendous potential of India's energy sector on the global stage; our process of Green Energy Transition, net-zero targets & journey towards energy sufficiency under the visionary and dynamic leadership of PM Narendra Modi while PM Modi's policies of social and financial inclusion like PMUjjwala Swachh Bharat Har Ghar Jal PMSVANidhi AMRUT and PMAY to name a few, have transformed lives of the beneficiaries," he said.

His remarks came at an "engaging" conversation with leaders of the global energy industry at the CII-EY Breakfast Session on Accelerating India's Energy Transition Towards Sustainable Economic Growth at the WEF, Annual Meeting on Tuesday.

"India is now the growth engine of the world and innovation in India is providing solutions to the challenges of nations of the Global South," he also said.

"It is a generally understood fact that economic growth is increasingly dependent on energy consumption on account of rapid urbanisation and industrialization. India's resilient growth is evident in the energy sector as it is now the world's 3rd largest energy consumer, 3rd largest consumer of oil, 3rd largest LPG consumer, 4th largest LNG importer, 4th largest refiner and 4th largest automobile market in the world," he added.

The 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum commenced in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, with political and business leaders engaging in discussions.

Distinguished speakers at the event include President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and U.N. national security advisor Jake Sullivan.

The official theme for this year's Davos is "Rebuilding Trust," reflecting the overarching focus of the summit.